MFT Color Challenge 64

For this week's color challenge I decided to make my grandmother a birthday card!

I created the card out of Blue Yonder MFT card stock, (this could be my favorite blue card stock ever, it's the perfect soft blue.)

After looking at the colors in the challenge, I randomly decide to die cut a bird and bird cage on my Cricut. I glued the layers together onto white card stock and used a glue dot to raise the bird off the card.

I started flipping through my stamp sentiments and found this 'a little birdie told me' from the Crazy Talk set by Stampers Anonymous and thought that was perfect!

While I was embossing the sentiment with white heat embossing powder, I accidentally got some of the versamark ink on the black card stock. To cover that up I used my Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen to create glitter black card stock.

Hopefully my grandma enjoys her handmade card!

50 Shades Darker: The Movie

Finally, after 2 years we get the next installment in the 50 Shades Movie Trilogy!

50 Shades Darker picks up right after Ana has left Christian. I was glad the movie sped up their separation and left out some of Christian's stalker tendencies.

Dakota was a strong, powerful Anastasia and I LOVED it! She has transformed this story on screen. I felt that Jaime has gotten more comfortable in Christian's shoes (or should I say jeans).

Of course there was a lot of sex, but I felt the right amount of time and emphasis was put on the important moments - #spreaderbar and #silverballs - I am almost surprised these were included but I am so happy they were!

Everyone who read the book (which should be EVERYONE by now) knows how the movie ended, and I appreciated the fade to Jack Hyde leading us into 50 Shades Freed. Thankfully, we only have to wait a year for the last movie. And if you stayed past the credits you got to see a sneak peak of Christian and Ana's wedding! 

Overall I felt the movie was cut short - it was less then 2 hours. I know all that sex can get redundant, but more could have been shown about Leila and Ms. Robinson. Also, Christian's confession/realization that he gets pleasure from punishing women that look like his birth mom felt anticlimactic. I still thought the movie was very good and entertaining. The soundtrack was amazing (Taylor Swift, need I say more) and helped enhance the drama and romance. This trilogy might be one of the few where the movies are better than the books.

DIY Rustic Wedding Invitations

When Michael and I picked a barn for our wedding venue, we knew right away that our theme would be rustic. We agreed upon accents of lace, mason jars, pumpkins and other fall outdoor elements like hay bales.

I knew I would design and hand make our invitations, not only to save money but because I LOVE to craft!

After spending hours on Pinterest for inspiration, I knew I needed burlap, lace and some ribbon for a pop of color. I found burlap paper at Hobby Lobby and spools of scalloped lace trim that would be perfect. Finding the perfect rose gold ribbon, to match the bridesmaids dresses, was a challenge. My local craft store Gary's Art & Crafts, carries 1000s of ribbons so thankfully I found the perfect shade there.

I designed the invitation wording on my computer and printed and cut the design on white card stock. I chose a simple rectangular shape with beveled edges.

I cut the burlap to 5" x 7" to fit into a standard A7 envelope. I cut strips of the lace and ribbon and layered those over the center of the burlap, adhering it with tape (which would be hidden with the white card stock).

I decided to make things more complicated and cut our names from rose vinyl and then used transfer tape to center on the white card stock. (I wish I had my Heidi Swapp Minc machine back then because it would have made things so much easier!)

When I put the invitation into the envelope I felt it was missing something, so I cut envelope liners with a scalloped edge using my Cricut.

Since I had to make 62 invitations, I put together the invitations assembly style over the course of a few weeks. This made things move smoothly and not feel like a HUGE undertaking.

I created a postcard for our RSVPs and printed it through Vistaprint. We decided on postcard cards to save money on postage and I was able to print 100 of them for $20.

Lastly, I designed a quick map with directions to include in the invitation since our wedding was kind of off the beaten path and in an unfamiliar city. I just printed the maps on light pink card stock and used a vinyl heart sticker to mark the location.

The final total cost on our invitations was $200 including postage!

MFT Challenge Card 2 in 1

MFTWCS318 & MFT Color Challenge #62

This week I decided to try 2 card challenges in 1! The My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge 318 and The My Favorite Things Color Challenge #62.

You can never have enough birthday cards so I decided that's what I would make. I used My Favorite Things Spearmint and Gravel Gray 100lb cardstock as well as some white and blue cardstock.

I created the top folding card out of spearmint, then created a white heat embossed back ground on the white card stock using stars from my Hero Arts Operation Write Home stamp set.

For the birthday sentiment, I printed the design on a laser printer and used my Heidi Swapp Minc to foil it in teal.

I cut some stars out of my blue cardstock and colored them with my Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen for some extra shine.

On the inside, I silver heat embossed 'Hope your day is AWESOME' from my Paper Smooches Fun and Flirty set. I also silver heat embossed some stars on the envelopment to match.

I am really enjoying these weekly challenges, it's a great way to get inspired and create more cards!